The 1992 season

Cyclone Val (1992)

Cyclone Val reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between December 4, 1991 and December 17, 1991, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Val, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1992 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
December 4, 1991 to December 17, 1991
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
29.2
Fastest the center moved
43 kt (49 mph)
Identifier
SH061992

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 4, 06:008.4S 179.5W30 ktTropical storm
Dec 4, 12:008.7S 179.3W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 18:009.0S 179.0W35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 00:009.1S 178.6W40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 06:009.2S 178.1W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 12:009.3S 177.5W50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 18:009.4S 176.8W55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 00:009.5S 176.0W60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 06:009.9S 175.2W65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 12:0010.5S 174.5W75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 18:0011.3S 174.2W85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 00:0011.9S 173.8W100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 06:0012.3S 173.5W110 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 12:0012.8S 173.0W115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 18:0013.3S 172.7W120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 00:0013.8S 172.5W125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 06:0014.0S 172.4W125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 12:0014.2S 172.4W120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 18:0014.4S 172.5W115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 00:0014.3S 172.7W110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 06:0014.1S 172.4W105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 12:0014.1S 171.9W100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 18:0014.2S 171.5W95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 00:0014.3S 170.9W90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 06:0014.4S 170.4W90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 12:0014.7S 169.7W85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 18:0015.1S 168.9W85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 00:0015.8S 168.1W85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 06:0016.6S 167.2W80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 12:0017.7S 166.3W80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 18:0018.9S 165.4W75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 00:0020.2S 164.5W70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 06:0021.7S 163.7W65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 12:0023.6S 163.1W60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 18:0026.0S 162.5W55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 00:0028.5S 160.6W50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 06:0029.6S 156.5W45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 12:0029.7S 151.5W40 kt975 mbExtratropical
Dec 13, 18:0033.0S 163.0W55 kt970 mbNot reported
Dec 14, 00:0035.0S 163.0W55 kt965 mbNot reported
Dec 14, 06:0037.0S 163.0W55 kt962 mbNot reported
Dec 14, 12:0039.0S 163.0W55 kt962 mbNot reported
Dec 14, 18:0041.0S 163.0W55 kt965 mbNot reported
Dec 15, 00:0043.0S 163.0W50 kt967 mbNot reported
Dec 15, 06:0046.0S 163.0W50 kt967 mbNot reported
Dec 15, 12:0048.0S 163.0W50 kt967 mbNot reported
Dec 15, 18:0051.0S 164.0W50 kt967 mbNot reported
Dec 16, 00:0052.0S 166.0W45 kt967 mbNot reported
Dec 16, 06:0051.0S 167.0W40 kt970 mbNot reported
Dec 16, 12:0050.0S 167.0W40 kt970 mbNot reported
Dec 16, 18:0050.0S 165.0W40 kt972 mbNot reported
Dec 17, 00:0050.0S 163.0W40 kt972 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1992

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.